Actor, Comedian, Entertainer. He is best remembered for his role of Mr. Green Jeans, the farmer and animal lover on the long running television series, "Captain Kangaroo." Born Hugh Brannum in Sandwich, Illinois, he moved with his family to California, and learned to play a variety of musical instruments while growing up. Using this talent to earn extra money, he joined a band playing trumpet, moving on to guitar and banjo, and later to the upright bass. While in college at Redlands University, he became interested in jazz, and after graduation, played bass in various bands on the West Coast and occasionally at a local radio station. During World War II, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and joined a Marine band led by Bob Crosby, brother of famed singer Bing Crosby. When he left the service at the end of the war, he joined the Four Squires, later moving to bandleader Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, living with his wife in a small Pennsylvania town, where he took up gardening. Warning's group had a regular radio show, where Hugh met Bob Keeshan, an employee at the station. During the weekly program, Brannum would tell stories to children using the stage name "Uncle Lumpy." This popular portion of the show let to 78 records being sold by Decca Records during the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1954, Brannum hosted a local Pennsylvania television show called "Uncle Lumpy's Cabin," and the following year, he joined with Bob Keeshan for "Captain Kangaroo," playing the character Mr. Green Jeans, for which he is so well remembered. In each episode he would introduce a live animal and teach children about caring for the earth and farming. After several decades on CBS television, "Captain Kangaroo" went to public television for its last remaining six years, before ending in 1985 (the show continued in reruns until 1993). Hugh Brannum died in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in 1987. His close friend and colleague, Bob Keeshan, died in 2004. (bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)